E3 2022 Gaming Bonanza or Covidhit Bore

E3 2021: Gaming bonanza or Covid-hit bore? By Steffan Powell Newsbeat gaming reporter

It's probably not a surprise that there were only some truly new games announced at this year's E3 convention.

Game development has been greatly affected by Covid as evident by the many delayed game releases recently,

Shay Thompson, Press X to continue looking back at this year's event says it was "a lot" of padding. Her colleague Gav Murphy wonders if they couldn't have "just taken a year off".

But some new games and plenty of fresh footage were presented.

So what were the highlights?

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2

A mysterious red-black flame flickers. Minecraft

There are flashes of a blonde heroine struggling to stay upright, only to fall, as the screen fades into darkness.

The trailer for the sequel to Nintendo's game Breath Of the Wild whipped fans online into raptures with the announcement that it would be out in 2022.

While some might be worried about the lack of an official release date, the gameplay that was shown seemed to have gone down with fans.

It was the culmination of the entire convention, though there was some displeasure that there was little other similar to it being presented by Nintendo.

Forza Horizon 5

At Microsoft's conference, Forza Horizon 5, the racing game Forza Horizon 5, was revealed. It will be played in Mexico. GAMES

It was later voted the most-anticipated game to be announced at the convention.

"It looks like so much fun," says Shay.

"It's arcade-style gaming goodness. You can tell the team has spent a significant amount of time researching the subject and it's been translated into the game.

"It's what games should look like on the next generation of consoles."

It is also among the few major titles that will be playable this year. Other games, like Starfield and Elden Ring are scheduled for 2022.

But some will have been disappointed that Playground Games, the studio which developed Forza Horizon, didn't have any evidence of their work on the latest Fable game, which we know is in development.

Starfield

Ever since being teased in 2018 there were questions about what exactly it is.

We now know the intriguing role-playing game, Starfield will require piloting a spaceship, exploring a galaxy, and embarking on adventures for hundreds of years into the future.

Bethesda will be the Xbox exclusive and Fallout's first new franchise in the last 25 years.

It is scheduled to be released in 2022.

Sea of Thieves

Gav says that the surprise collaboration between Sea of Thieves & Pirates of the Caribbean stole the show.

"It's adding more story-based content into the game," he says.

"You'll be able to go off on missions with Pirates of the Caribbean characters - but the world won't be overtaken by them, so this doesn't appear to me as a strange, cynical, cash-in.

"Sea of Thieves is best when you play cool missions with your buddies. This is why we are adding more content to Sea of Thieves."

Elden Ring

A question that has been answered this week is: "What is Elden Ring?"

Finally, the release date has been set for the collaboration between Game of Thrones author George R.R Martin and legendary game maker Hidetaka Mikaziki.

Many started to worry that we wouldn't be able to play the game that was announced in 2019, after the absence of any updates.

But a large portion of the game's dark and mysterious settings has been revealed and the developers have said it will be released on consoles in January 2022.

Guardians of the Galaxy

Marvel fans were pleased to see a surprise tie-in with The Guardians of the Galaxy, announced by publisher Square Enix.

The movie was released in October and puts you in the role of Peter Quill, the star lord. The trailer was packed with his signature quips.

The game isn't very popular due to the fact that it doesn't have the rights to use the similarity of Hollywood actors.

Shay describes the display's old-fashioned look as "it appears as if it was created 10 years ago."

"Having these characters that are pretty generic, but not Hollywood faces, was bizarre."

Indie games to get excited about

For Press X to Continue's Inel Tomlinson, one of the stars of this year's convention were not the big titles but some independent titles that were teased during the event.

He adds, "I enjoyed the indie games being brought to forefront of everyone's focus this year at conferences."

"I liked the game Replaced with its cool pixelated art mixed, and 12 minutes starring Willem Dafoe.

"There are many smaller independent titles to get excited about."

For more gaming content, head to Press X To Continue on BBC Sounds.

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